The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a South African woman allegedly recruited to smuggle 36.65 kilogrammes of cocaine out of Nigeria, a Nigerian-American grandmother accused of importing 9.45 kilogrammes of high-grade cannabis, and a Lagos-based car dealer suspected of providing logistical support to the cocaine courier.
The arrests followed separate operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, as the agency intensified its crackdown on international drug trafficking networks and their local collaborators.
The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement that the South African suspect, 34-year-old Qhina Beauty, was arrested on October 7 while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to South Africa through Doha.
A search of her two travelling bags allegedly uncovered 30 blocks of cocaine weighing 36.65 kilogrammes. The substance was wrapped in cellophane tape, mixed with dried pepper and concealed in seven separate parcels.
According to Babafemi, Qhina told investigators that she arrived in Nigeria on September 30 specifically to collect the consignment and had been promised R20,000 for successfully delivering it to South Africa.
She allegedly identified another South African woman as her recruiter and named two other suspected members of the trafficking network, including an individual based in the United States and a Lagos car dealer.
Following further investigations and surveillance, NDLEA operatives arrested the alleged local accomplice, 46-year-old Uchenna Umunnakwe, at Apple Junction, Ago Palace Way, Lagos, on October 14.
Babafemi said Umunnakwe admitted receiving Qhina at the airport, arranging her accommodation at Santiago Hotel in Amuwo-Odofin and subsequently moving her to Cynarisso Hotel near the airport ahead of her departure.
The arrest has expanded the investigation beyond the intercepted cocaine shipment to the alleged network responsible for coordinating the courier’s movements and accommodation in Lagos.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers arrested 62-year-old Anetor Gloria Ubong on October 21 after she arrived in Lagos from Houston, Texas, aboard a United Airlines flight.
The Nigerian-American, a realtor based in Richmond, Texas, was allegedly found with 18 parcels of loud, a high-potency variety of cannabis, weighing 9.45 kilogrammes. The substance was concealed in her two checked-in boxes using gift-wrapping paper.
Ubong reportedly told investigators that her daughter and the daughter’s future brother-in-law had brought the box to her home in the United States for onward delivery to her daughter’s fiancé, identified as Jibola, in Nigeria.
The two airport interceptions come amid renewed concerns over the use of international couriers to move illicit drugs across national borders.
In September, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced South African national Will Jessica Ann to a total of 40 years’ imprisonment for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria. She was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on July 6, after arriving from Doha.
The NDLEA said further investigations in that case linked Ann to an alleged international trafficking network involving her husband, Jan Coenraad De Jager, who was arrested in Johannesburg on July 27 over an alleged attempt to traffic 3.2 kilogrammes of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu convicted Ann after she pleaded guilty to charges relating to the importation of heroin and conspiracy to import the substance. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
However, no established link has been reported between that case and the latest investigation involving Qhina.
Beyond the airport arrests, the NDLEA reported major drug seizures and arrests across Lagos, Delta, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba and Oyo states.
In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit arrested 41-year-old Eletu Rasheedat in the Eti-Osa area on October 23. The operation yielded 5,820 diazepam pills, 780 tramadol tablets, 3.7 kilogrammes of skunk and 230.25 litres of a locally produced alcoholic and drug-infused mixture known as skuchies.
In Delta State, officers arrested 51-year-old Peter Ugochukwu in Warri with a large cache of pharmaceutical opioids, including 29,350 tramadol capsules, 6,620 tablets of tramadol 200mg, 4,116 bottles of codeine syrup, 11,340 Rohypnol tablets and 3,500 diazepam tablets.
The seizure also included 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 200 ampoules of diazepam injection and quantities of tramadol 225mg, Molly and Cocodamol. The suspect and a white Hummer bus were transferred to the NDLEA by the Nigeria Police Force in Delta State.
In another operation at Enerhen Junction, Warri, operatives arrested 46-year-old Helen Bakporo Samson, a physically challenged woman, on October 19 with six kilogrammes of skunk.
In Oyo State, the agency arrested 41-year-old Fajana Dada Oluwaseyi in the Adamasingba area of Ibadan on October 19. The suspect had allegedly escaped arrest after operatives seized 197.8 kilogrammes of cannabis from his residence on September 16.
Kano State operatives also arrested 30-year-old Murtala Lawan during a raid in the Gerawa area on October 22, recovering 159 blocks of cannabis weighing 97.2 kilogrammes.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted 39-year-old Raiyanu Misa at the Lankaviri checkpoint in Yorro Local Government Area on October 23 with 95 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 60.175 kilogrammes.
On the same day, the agency received another suspect from the police following his arrest at Dakka village in Bali Local Government Area, where 112 blocks of cannabis weighing 81.49 kilogrammes were recovered.
In Niger State, 26-year-old Emmanuel Ekene was arrested on October 19 along the Sabo-Kainji road in Borgu Local Government Area with 64,000 opioid pills, including tramadol and diazepam.
Bauchi State operatives arrested 45-year-old Jamilu Mustapha, also known as Last Card, at Nasaru town in Ningi Local Government Area on October 21. They recovered 379 kilogrammes of cannabis packed in seven large sacks.
The agency also recorded substantial recoveries from cannabis farms in Ondo and Edo states.
Babafemi said operatives, acting on intelligence, raided a farm at Board-Ala in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State on October 20, recovering 56 abandoned bags of cannabis weighing 583 kilogrammes.
In Edo State, officers destroyed two cannabis farms in Ugbada Forest, Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area, on October 18. The farms were estimated to have a potential yield of 2,023.14 kilogrammes.
During the operation, operatives destroyed 450 kilogrammes of processed cannabis by burning and took another 97 kilogrammes as exhibits. In a related operation at Ewe community in Owan West, they arrested 42-year-old Mary Edokhai with 35 kilogrammes of the substance.
The NDLEA said its enforcement activities were complemented by public sensitisation programmes under its War Against Drug Abuse initiative, with lectures delivered to students and staff of schools in Oyo, Niger, Ogun, Kano, Enugu, Anambra and Osun states, among other locations.
The agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the Lagos airport and the Kano, Lagos, Bauchi, Niger, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, Oyo and Delta commands for their vigilance, professionalism and intelligence-driven operations.
Marwa urged NDLEA personnel nationwide to sustain the momentum in tackling drug trafficking and substance abuse.
The latest operations underscore the agency’s expanding focus on both international trafficking routes and domestic distribution networks, particularly the logistics, pharmaceutical supply chains and cannabis cultivation activities that sustain the illicit drug trade.
